"The older I get the more self-aware I become, and the more I understand the fragility of life. There’s nothing really profound in that last statement. Nor do I have any profound answers. Mostly because these thoughts are just beginning to surface, but they come in waves and I am often swept under long enough to panic."

"They were sitting in the front row and like the first set was really calm they were like just having a good time, just having drinks and being fun but then like half way through the second set that they played these girls just had like a round table of just puking on the table.” “It was like Stand by Me,” Julian interjects as Conner laughs and Dan says with confidence, “One after the other.” Adam smiles and comments, “I was like Damn these guys just rocked the puke out of these girls, I will play in that band” and all four boys laugh. “So since then, we’ve been a band. We’ve done a lot of different stuff, and we’ve got lofty goals,” Dan says with a smile as all four members bust up laughing."

"No Walls Collective was inspired by the desire to support prisoners and make up for the funds they lack. Casper stated that prisoners are required to pay for their meals, supplies from commissary, and for their health care. The price of life in prison combined with the lack of paid work opportunities within prison makes access to items for daily living, according to Casper, 'completely impossible'."

"... I recall that though our galaxy is vast beyond knowing, there are other galaxies, perhaps even billions of other galaxies…. Can this be right? Again, I try picturing a billion of anything, a billion apples, a billion butterflies, a billion smiles; then I try something easier, five hundred, maybe, or a thousand, a sort of gradual assent to infinite numbers."

"Growth is slow, but we are learning from each other; we want to be as inclusive as possible, but we avoid dogma and closed-mindedness like the black plague. We acknowledge our fallibility, humble ourselves, embracing the knowledge of the community. We gather, appreciate local art, and cherish the simple things."

"I had pulled myself up from the floor with tears streaming down my face and I knew I needed more. I had been given a lesson on the value of release. I don’t always grant myself the permission to let go. From the floor of a studio space in Oakland, I learned how to accept my memories, accept myself, let myself be loved and held from exactly where I was at."

"The two tier system of United States Immigration policy emphasizes a method of accepting 'desirable' refugees into the country over 'the huddled masses', the latter of which was the romanticized image that American immigration was based on..."

"We wanted to create a space that both highlights and cultivates art and advocacy in the Eden Area. We wanted a place that encourages dialogue, as opposed to debate, and reconciliation across social barriers."

"Truly, my friends, the experience of hearing music itself touches almost every synapse we have as human people. Diseases like Dementia and Alzheimer's affect certain parts of the brain, however because music is utilizing so many other areas in the brain, the mind has a stronger reaction, even if the memory center is being compromised. The mind is simply, incredible. Each lobe and nerve-synapse are collaborating on their tasks and building a symphony of memory, rhythm, pitch, and the like."

"Driving down a secluded road off Highway 4Listening to Kerouac preach across airwaves that were birthedBefore I was a twinkle in my mother’s eyeNot Woody Guthrie, not Woody AllenSteven Allen playing late-night, last-call, dim-lit piano…in the foreground…"

The land behind is desolate. I have lived there many years, grabbing at objects of dust, collecting incessantly in my obsession. I have no nourishment. Though I fill my stomach with the rotten fruit of the barren land, I am empty....

"I was led to believe though I may have to accept those who are different than me, as an American, I need not deny my superior knowledge and worldview no matter where I fell on the political and philosophical spectrum. My social training was based on this formula: Money plus power equals success divided only by compassion and multiplied by self-interest {Money + Power = Success ÷ Compassion × Self-interest}. The pinnacle of life: own a home that houses two cars, a boat, 2.5 kids, a materially satisfied wife, cable TV, and a nice IRA. Conform, conform, confirmed."